Trooper: Bargaining Chip
by turbomagnus
Summary: SWTOR - When conflict breaks out on Iokath, the cooperation of the Outlander's Alliance with the Galactic Republic has a price.


Disclaimer: "Star Wars" is the property of LucasFilm/LucasArts and George Lucas, while "Star Wars: The Old Republic" is licensed to BioWare, all characters and situations relating to either or both are used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

-o0O0o-

"Trooper: Bargaining Chip"  
'A Star Wars: The Old Republic Story'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

He'd been called a lot of things in his life, various ranks, 'Commander of Havoc Squad', 'Hero of The Republic', 'The Outlander', 'Commander of The Alliance'; of them all, the one he preferred most was his codename of 'Meteor'. It allowed him to think back to that happier time, just before Ord Mantell, when he'd learned he was being assigned to the Galactic Republic's top Special Forces unit and all he could think about what how much he'd learn from being around the best, all the people he'd help protect and the threats to the Republic he'd stop. He'd been a naive fool then, and part of him missed it, because that naive fool hadn't had the weight of the galaxy - and one of its three most-powerful establishments - resting on his shoulders.

And now that establishment, the 'Eternal Alliance' - and he was still arguing with Theron Shan and Lana Beniko about the name; just because they'd acquired the Eternal Fleet after defeating Vaylin and Valkorian didn't mean they should make it part of their name. One, it was too close to the 'Eternal Empire' for his comfort and that of plenty of others and two, he didn't like the focus it put on the possession of the Fleet instead of the people who made up the Alliance - was finding itself caught in the middle between the other two, the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, as they moved back towards hostilities with each other. Considering that the Alliance's make-up, that put them in a bad position and made his own position difficult. Which his first instinct was to support the Republic, just like he'd sworn an oath to all those years before, events over the years made him have second thoughts; even as recently during the war against the Eternal Empire, former-Chancellor Saresh had tried to have him assassinated so she could seize control of the Alliance for herself; while Empress Acina of the Sith had provided military, logistical and other support to the Alliance and that wasn't something Meteor was willing to overlook. It was the soldier in him; you didn't turn your back on people who fought alongside you, it just wasn't done...

"The choice is yours, Commander. Who shall we side with?" Lana asked.

He didn't want the choice, he didn't ask for it, he'd just intended to fight Arcann and Vaylin; he didn't even know why people were still following him like he was something more than just a soldier. He hadn't even been much of a squad leader; most of the time he'd just trusted the rest of Havoc to do their jobs and let them do them. As out of place as the thought was, Meteor found himself wondering what Tavus would do in this situation...

Tavus... the last thing the disgraced Commander had ever said to him was that whatever choices a person made, they had to live with the consequences, just like he'd have to do. He hadn't had to do it long; since his defrosting Meteor had learned that Tavus had died in prison, joining Wraith, Needles and Gearbox in the list of the deceased. Only Meteor himself and Fuse were still alive, though the demolitions expert was still in a Republic prison for his part in the defection incident.

Thinking of that made the decision for him...

"We will ally with the Republic."

-o0o-

It came with consequences. As soon as Meteor had announced the Alliance's intentions, the Imperial representative set off a bomb on his shuttle and used a flash-bang to cover his own escape, sowing chaos in the command center. Shortly afterwards, the Alliance and Republic forces found themselves under a full-scale assault. After the Imperial attack was repelled, communications was re-established between the ground base and orbiting ships, including between the operations room and Jace Malcolm's vessel.

"Good job, Commander," Malcolm congratulated. "Glad to know the Havoc Squad spirit is still alive and well with you. It'll be good to have you fighting with us, again."

Meteor just looked at the other man's image, "There's something I want from the Republic in exchange for the Alliance's aid, though, Malcolm."

The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Galactic Republic crossed his arms and frowned, "I'm going to guess it's something I might not like hearing."

"I want Vanto Bazren released into my custody."

Malcolm's guess was right, "Bazren's a traitor."

"He renounced his treason, aided Havoc on Tatooine, and in case you forgot, Supreme Commander, half the Alliance is former Imperials and Sith and another quarter is _disavowed_ Republic forces, _including_ Havoc Squad... _two_ Havoc Squads if you want to get technical," Meteor noted, referring to the fact that himself and fellow Alliance members Yuun and M1-4X were part of one incarnation of the unit as well as Aric Jorgan, who had also been part of a second along with the still-recovering survivor of an op-gone-bad that had claimed the lives of their squadmates.

"It'll take a lot of talking to convince the Senate to release him."

"During that talking, feel free to remind the politicians in the Senate just where Saresh is sitting right now," Meteor countered, folding his own arms. "They can consider it a 'prisoner exchange' if they want."

Malcolm huffed, "You're becoming good with politics yourself, it looks like. I'll see what I can do about Bazren when I get back to Coruscant. Right now, our main concern is Iokath and the Empire."


End file.
